Fischer's journey of self-discovery continues while taking part in 'Shocks and Saves' game

The Saginaw Spirit lost against the Windsor Spitfires in a 4-3 overtime decision on Saturday night, but their pre-game festivities, as noted by the Saginaw News's Mark Constantine, were nothing less than spectacular. Jiri Fischer participated in the "Shocks and Saves" game to help raise money to defray the cost of purchasing Automated External Defibrillators, and the game was tremendously successful, as SaginawSpirit.com's Matthew Black notes:

March 1, SaginawSpirit.com: The first annual Shocks and Saves charity game saw former Detroit Red Wings defensemen Jiri Fisher make his first public skate since he collapsed on the Red Wings bench on November 21, 2008. Former NHLer's Don Edwards and Warren Rychel, as well as several local doctors and medical professionals, also participated in the event that raised over $15,000 for Fischer's Healthy Hope Foundation. The Foundation will be donating that money to the local community to support the placement of Automatic External Defibrillators (AED's) in mid-Michigan schools and ice rinks.

Don Edwards, a Vezina winning goaltender with the Buffalo Saber and current Spirit General Manager, won several key face-offs, as team Shocks jumped out to an early 2 goal lead. However team Saves would not be denied and rallied late in the first with a pair of goals themselves. After a hard fought effort by both teams, things ended knotted up at 2-2.

After recharging themselves team Shocks came out firing on all cylinders in the second, extending their lead with 3 more goals. The stellar defensive play of Jiri Fischer helped team Shocks keep team Saves off the score board and finish the period up 5-2.

Team Saves made a blockbuster move when they traded absolutely nothing to team Shocks for Jiri Fischer. In the terms of the trade, Fischer agreed to play forward in an effort to boost team Saves offense production. The trade appeared to pay off when team Saves narrowed the gap 5-3. However team Shocks offence would prove too potent for team Saves, they went on to add 2 more goals in the third. After a hard fought effort for a heart health cause, team Shocks would prevail over team Saves with a 7-3 victory.

Fischer told the Windsor Star's Jim Parker that he felt fine during the game as Wings' team physician Anthony Colucci was in tow:

March 2, Windsor Star: "I felt very protected today," Fischer said. "I was looking for Tony. He had everything covered."
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"It was awesome," Fischer said. "I was just enjoying the moment, I wasn't thinking about my feelings."

Fischer is extremely passionate about the cause his Healthy Hope Foundation supports in promoting AED use in as many public places as possible:

"We sat down after my cardiac arrest and saw how overlooked this is," Fischer said. "We have fire extinguishers to protect property, but not these to protect lives."

But Fischer also donated $2,000 to the Windsor Spitfires Foundation in memory of Spitfires forward Mickey Renaud, who passed away a week-and-a-half ago. The Spitfires were taking part in their first road game since Renaud's death on Saturday:

"What happened to Mickey is extremely touching," said Fischer, who was at Thursday's game in Windsor. "I was there, it was very emotional."

Parker notes that Fischer is uncertain as to whether he has a future in the NHL, but as he continues on his quest to determine why he had an atrial fribrillation that nearly killed him, more and more contributing factors have become readily apparent, and he believes there were warning signs leading up to his tachycardia

"You think of some of the classic symptoms like shortness of breath," he said. "There could have been (signs) because I didn't know any better. (Playing in the NHL) you're eating late at two in the morning, you're getting in at four o'clock (in the morning) and then practising at 11 (a.m.) and dealing with time changes. It takes a toll on your body."

Fischer admitted to the Free Press's Joe Machota that recovering from what happened to him--and the implications thereof--was and is extremely difficult:

March 2, Detroit Free Press: "It was quite depressing for a while there, but thankfully I had family and friends. I had my wife," Fischer said. "It's been a lot of work to get back to everyday life and it's really paying off now. I'm really enjoying it. A year ago I wouldn't have been able to skate out here."

Fischer is currently a director of player development with the Wings.

"My job has kept me very busy with our prospects and I have to travel most of the weekends out of town," he said. "And, of course, I'm proud to be a teammate of Steve Yzerman once and now I'm one of the staff members and he's my boss, so it's a great thing."

A return to the ice in unlikely, but Fischer doesn't rule it out.

"There's always chances on anything," he said. "Right now everything is hypothetical so I just enjoy every day. I just take it as it goes and I work towards getting healthy, and hopefully I can achieve that."

As Machota notes, AEDs have become much more common everywhere from sports facilities to malls and airports, and Fischer can thank what happened to him for raising awareness of an easy-to-use device that saves lives:

"In every tragedy, hopefully there is a start of something really, really good."

The Free Press posted a 10-image gallery of that night in 2005 when he nearly lost his life, but these photos aren't bad, either:

Saginaw News, Michael HollenbeckJiri Fischer takes part in the "Shocks and Saves" game. Click on the picture for a wallpaper-sized photo.

Saginaw News, Michael HollenbeckJiri Fischer attempts to score a goal. Click on the picture for a wallpaper-sized image.